Republican and Fascist Germany: Themes and Variations in the History of Weimar and the Third Reich, 1918-1945 [Paperback]

This important addition to modern German studies treats the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich as a continuum, exploring its themes through the 1920s and 1930s without artificial breaks. John Hiden looks at key issues in political, social and economic history, and in international relations. He highlights Germany's potentially constructive role in Europe before Hitler; analyses the country's structural problems; considers the importance of personalities and personal responsibility in the period; and examines the legacy of the Third Reich to postwar Germany. Filled with energy and ideas, the book has an intellectual substance far beyond its relatively modest length.

This important addition to modern German studies treats the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich as a continuum, exploring its themes through the 1920s and 1930s without artificial breaks. John Hiden looks at key issues in political, social and economic history, and in international relations. He highlights Germany's potentially constructive role in Europe before Hitler; analyses the country's structural problems; considers the importance of personalities and personal responsibility in the period; and examines the legacy of the Third Reich to postwar Germany.

Acknowledgements Abbreviations and AcronymsIntroduction1.Policy for the sake of the RepublicThe conditions of peaceA note on German 'revisionism'The illusion of East-West choices 1921-23 Stresemann and the primacy of Westpolitik Stresemann and RussiaTrade and OstpolitikThe role of the Auslandsdeutsche2.Democratic ProspectsThe Weimar constitution3.The PartiesThe German Socialist Party The Centre PartyThe German Democratic PartyThe German People's PartyThe German Nationalist People's Party The German Communist PartyThe National Socialist German Workers' Party4.The Practice of ParliamentCoalition patternsInterlude - the election of President HindenburgSectional interests in politicsAn indecent burial 1930-335. Goverls\